


What It Means To Be Hardboiled

by Dansechat



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Gangstuck, Humanstuck, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-04
Updated: 2012-08-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 20:24:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/397873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dansechat/pseuds/Dansechat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a dark and stormy night when twelve homeless children are taken in by the two biggest gangs in the city. When Nepeta Leijon, a member of The Felt falls in love with Karkat Vantas of the Midnight Crew, her life will fall apart as she is forced to choose between staying loyal to her new family and dealing with her emotions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nepeta

When Nepeta was little, she was left on the streets to die. 

It was a cruel world full of cruel parents and Nepeta knew this better then some. She couldn't remember her parents but she felt no anger towards them for what they did. Maybe they couldn't afford to take care of her or maybe they had died. She would never know.

She was terrified at first but as it turned out, Nepeta was extremely good at staying alive. She lived in an alley where she pawed through the trash for scraps of food and drank rainwater out of the gutters. Soon, she braved the wide open streets and the busy market. There was much more food out there just lying around and Nepeta was even able to pick a pocket or two. 

By the end of the year she was still living on the streets. Her strong, stubborn will to survive was thriving. Everyday the six year old girl would crawl underfoot the massive crowds and steal little nips of things. A pence from a dangling wallet, the crust off a loaf of bread. All sorts of necessities.

Then, there was that awful period of time when Nepeta fell ill. She must have eaten spoiled meat or something along those lines. She was too weak to "hunt" through the city for food or even crawl around the trash. Her last resort was to curl up in a ball behind a building and wait for death. 

And then, someone found her. 

The building Nepeta had hidden behind happened to be a meeting place for a very influential gang leader. Somebody with a lot of power.

And so, the lady Snowman found her.


	2. Karkat

For the first years of his life, Karkat Vantas was a sorry sight indeed.

Pedestrians would catch glimpses of him huddled under cardboard boxes or skulking down alleyways. His scrawny face was always pinched in a scowl. His mouth was pursed, ready to release hordes of vulgar language upon anyone who would dare to disturb him. 

When he was still a child, he simply disappeared off of the streets. Most assumed that he had died of starvation and disease. Nobody guessed that he had been adopted by the leader of The Midnight Crew.

Karkat was adopted by Spades Slick very grudgingly. He, very grudgingly in return, let Slick teach him everything he knew from casing a building to stabbing its inhabitant.

"Now first thing's first kid." He said gruffly. Karkat was sitting on the couch listening attentively with wide eyes. For such a nasty kid, he could be kind of sweet. "If you see a clock. Smash it. See a watch? Stab it. Anything with a round face that tells time must be dealt with like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. 

"If you ever bring a clock into my mansion I'm gonna stab you in the pancreas. Understand?" Karkat nodded slowly.

"Good. Next thing, we, The Midnight Crew, are the best gang in this dump of a city. Anyone tell you otherwise, stab them. There's another couple a guys 'round here. Called The Felt. Dumb as fuck but don't mess with them understand? In fact, if anyone besides us so much as mentions The Felt to you-"

"Stab them?" Karkat asked. The corners of his mouth were twitching.

"Fast learner." Slick muttered. 

Karkat found very soon that he was not the only child being raised in the mansion. Though he never saw them for long periods of time, Karkat remembered catching glimpses of other people his age. A young girl with long, heavy dark hair. A boy in a wheelchair (what the hell was he doing there?) He never really met them until a couple years later.

===> Years in the future but not many


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whoops accidentally posted the unfinished version bad Ellie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Hearts Boxcars headcannon: he has the weirdest accent :p

"You! Teh one with teh nubby horns! Get your arse downstairs!"

Karkat looked up from his hubtop, scowling at the sight of shadowy figure standing by the doorway.

"Jesus fucking christ Hearts, this is the fifth time Slick's called me down today! Tell him I'm fucking sick of his shitty 'lessons.'"

Hearts Boxcars walked into the room, his heavy feet clomping on the floor. He stood looming over Karkat in all his 6'5 greatness. Instead of shrinking back from him as most would do, Karkat leaned forward seething with irritation.

"This isn't a lesson kid. Slick's gotta job for ya."

Karkat's annoyance immediately morphed into curiosity. "Uh...a job?" He asked, not sure if he had heard correctly. "Like a uh, job job? Not just kitchen duty or some shit?"

Hearts Boxcars made an impatient sounding sound that could vaguely be defined as a grunt. "Yeah a job job. If you keep talkin' like that, everyone's gonna think your teh cripple." He motioned for Karkat to get up. "And your gonna walk like 'im too if you don't get downstairs fast enough."

Karkat pushed his hubtop shut and walked around Hearts' rather impressive girth. He heard the faint sound of one angry Spades Slick hollering downstairs. This encouraged the boy to clomp down the stairs slightly quicker then he usually would. He walked towards the screaming until he ended up in the kitchen. Slick was sitting at the kitchen, back turned, with papers spread all over the wooden surface. Karkat's heart raced at the sight. They must have been plans or guidelines for the job and oh holy shit he actually had a job.

"Where you been kid?" Slick grumbled without turning around.

Karkat put on his customary scowl before replying, "Cut to the crap Slick. Hearts said you have a job for me."

Slick nodded to acknowledge that Karkat had said the right thing. "Take a look at this." He shoved a stack of papers in Karkat's face. "You're gonna need it." 

Karkat sat down opposite Slick to examine what he had just been given. The papers appeared to be a collection of informative bios on a group of people complete with pictures. Some of the pictures showed children, some showed adults. All were different except for their wardrobe choices. Those fashionable green and black suits weren't just worn by anyone...

"Holy shit." Karkat muttered. He looked up at Spades Slick. "You got bios on The Felt?" He flipped through the pages once more, examining the people displayed. "Just what am I supposed to fucking do with these?"

One corner of Slick's mout twitched, the closest to a smile he ever got. "Snowman. She has a couple broads trainin' as her...protegees. They're doin' somethin. Somethin big. I don't know what though."

Karkat thought for a moment to let it all sink in. "So, let me get this shit straight." He took a deep breath. "You want me to what, tail these girls?"

"Nope." Slick hissed. "I want you to make friends with them."

WHAT

Karkat looked to see if he was joking but no, the man looked dead serious.

"Yeah, you heard me." Slick said reading Karkat's facial expression. "And I ain't joking. You're gonna find these girls and befriend em'. Who knows how long it'll take for em' to trust you, so you gotta be patient." He shot Karkat a smirk. "Think you can do that?"

This was the shittiest first job ever.

 


End file.
